The owner and operator of The Sports Cafe chain, Coliseum Group, has said that trading for the first four months of 2005 is in line with budget and 45 per cent ahead of trading in the comparative period last year.

Like-for-like sales were up 0.3 per cent while gross margins increased 2 per cent to 73 per cent in 2005.

Speaking at Coliseum's AGM, chair Ian Lenagan said: "The board considers the start to 2005 positive in terms of the group's expansion programme. On the basis of trading during the first four months of the year, we are confident of achieving results that are in line with market expectations."